woods behind the gym.
Mrs. Clark, my classmates, and I watched in astonishment as Brandon replaced his glove and calmly walked back to his desk and took his seat.
I was dumbfounded. Along with my classmates, we were perplexed, confused, and amazed at what we’d just witnessed. It was as if we all were wondering if we had really just seen a student, one who didn’t speak in class or make himself known, communicating with a pack of wolves. We looked to Brandon for answers, but by the way he was avoiding all eye contact or questions, it was clear he wasn’t about to give any.
“That was totally freaky!” Ivy said. “Did you see what I just saw?”
“Yes! I swear they were looking right at Brandon,” Abby confirmed. “I think he was talking to them.”
The classroom was abuzz with gossiping, laughter, and disorder. The students glared at Brandon, bewildered. Mrs. Clark tapped her desk with her pointer.
I gazed back at Brandon. His face was flushed from all the attention, and he was doing his best to hide behind his textbook.
“They must have sensed the police coming,” I said out loud. “Wolves are very intuitive that way.”
Legend’s Run High was buzzing with the wolf sightings. The lunchroom was packed with students replaying videos, showing pictures, and telling their version of the events that had occurred by the flagpole.
Ivy insisted Brandon had something to do with the wolves retreating, but everyone in our group laughed at her hypothesis.
“I was sitting right there!” she said.
“So was I,” I said. “They left as soon as the animal controllers started to approach them.”
“He took off his glove — the one he always wears,” she said. “Don’t you think that was freaky?”
“Maybe he was nervous and got warm,” I said. “We all were excited.”
“He was talking to them,” she said. “Like the Wolfman.”
They all laughed again, but I remained silent.
“You have to admit, it was pretty freaky,” Jake agreed. “Maybe it was coincidence, but why did he go up there in the first place?”
“He might have psychic powers,” Abby teased. “Like Dr. Meadows. Maybe he can give us our next reading.”
“We always thought he was strange,” Ivy said. “Ever since he arrived here at school.” She looked to Abby for help.
My friends agreed.
“But that doesn’t mean he can talk to wolves,” I said.
“Why do you always defend him?” Ivy asked.
“Yes, why?” Nash suddenly chimed in.
Everyone waited for my response.
“Because no one else will,” I finally said.
When I turned on my phone during lunch, there were at least five voice messages and a dozen texts from my mom. I immediately called to assure her I was safe and the school and community resources had done their best to protect us and maintain order.
“It’s all over the news,” she said when I arrived home. My mom left work early and had been watching the TV all day. “They closed several businesses around the school. I’m so glad you’re home safe.”
We were glued to the local four o’clock news. Animal experts talked about wolf safety, but most agreed that it was uncommon for one wolf to venture out of the woods in the middle of the day and come so close to an area with a human population. For a pack of wolves to do it was extraordinary.
The sun was going to be setting soon. I didn’t have much sunlight left before the full moon was going to shine. I was worried about Brandon and what might happen to him.
“I have to run out — but I’ll be back soon,” I said, grabbing my coat.
“You’re not going anywhere tonight,” my mom said. “You can’t go out when there are wolves running around. Give it a few days to see how it plays out.”
I was always well behaved and it was very rare that I didn’t follow the rules. It was as unlikely for me to get in trouble as it was to discover that a transfer student could become a werewolf. But both things were possible tonight.
“I’m sorry, Mom, but I have to go—” I said defiantly, closing the back door behind me.
The sun was beginning to set over the trees, and it wouldn’t be long until the rise of the full moon. I hurried to Brandon’s. I needed to see him face-to-face — and see which features stared back at me, those of a handsome guy or those of a wolf.
I found him in the backyard stacking wood into a pile alongside a small shed.
This time Brandon wasn’t pleased by my presence.
“What are you doing here?” he asked. “I told you I couldn’t see you. Especially tonight.”
“I wanted to be near you, just like the wolves did when they came to see you at school,” I confessed.
“You have to leave, Celeste.” He backed away, but I followed.
“I’m not going,” I said.
He picked up a few pieces of wood that had tumbled from the pile. “You have to — it’s the only way.”
“Then you will have to carry me off,” I said, finally facing him. “And I’m much heavier than that pile of wood.”
He returned the logs into the pile and stared off at the setting sun. “Celeste, what is happening to me?” he asked.
His pain and torment were palpable. I would have taken it all away if I could. I hugged him and he caved in on me.
“I don’t know, Brandon. It seems odd, mystical, paranormal. Or maybe it’s nothing at all. Maybe it’s all coincidence.”
“But I never felt anything like this before… until that day when I heard you calling in the woods. And then I was never the same.”
“It was a full moon, then. I knew it was my fault.”
“It’s not—”
I’d experienced Brandon Maddox through my five senses. One, I first saw Brandon in class that day that he transferred. Two, I heard him speak when Ivy and Abby confronted him. Three, we touched that day he saved me in the woods. Four, his scent still lingered on his shirt that I kept on my nightstand. Five, I had tasted his lips against mine. But there was one more sense I was desperate to witness; I needed to confirm my suspicions through the sixth sense — the paranormal.
“I’m not leaving,” I said.
“You have to go — I don’t know how I’ll be — or what I’ll be.”
I held on to him with all my strength. “It’s okay.”
I wanted to see for sure if what we’d experienced under the last full moon was coincidence or could be explained away by another reason — one other than legends, folklore, or predictions.
The full moon shone down upon us as Brandon enveloped me in his arms and kissed me. He was so passionate and intense, I was afraid I was going to be the one who would have to throw off my coat this time.
Brandon was kissing my neck when he suddenly broke away.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I’m burning up. Like the sun is lighting me on fire — only there’s no sun.”
“Just the moon…” I barely managed to say.
“You must leave. Now!”
I had Brandon’s shirt at home, so I knew last month’s episode wasn’t a dream. But that didn’t mean I’d seen what I thought I’d seen. Tonight, I wouldn’t let Brandon out of my sight. I had to see the transformation for myself.
Brandon’s blue eyes turned intensely gray. He covered them and retreated. He went into the woods, using trees to block my view. He was desperate for me not to see him, but I followed him anyway. I ran past trees and
